Growing Up Beside You
by GroovyViewbie
Summary: An AU look at the lives of Stiles and Lydia and the different paths they took to be together. One-shot, no supernatural elements.


**A/N: **This is just a quick one shot I wrote a while ago. If you've been following my story At Last I See The Light, this is the story I promised you for the long wait. It is slightly AU and took a very different turn than I'd originally intended but I hope you enjoy.

Disclaimer: I do not own Teen wolf or the characters involved. All rights to their respective owners.

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><p>It started when she was in third grade. There was a new kid playing in the sandbox, and as self appointed class president, she was determined to be the one to greet him. She'd swayed over with a confident stride, extending her hand towards him.<p>

"Lydia Martin, class president. Are you in Miss Fitzpatrick's class? She didn't mention a new boy." Lydia spoke with an air of determination, hand still stuckA out as the boy inspected it. She tapped her foot impatiently and that is when he stood up and ran away towards the swings. She would later learn his name was Stiles. Her parents thought he was her imaginary friend, her mother admiring her creativity whilst her father thinking the name was ridiculous but they didn't have long to worry about it. Stiles Stilinski was gone a week later.

She saw him again when she was thirteen. Still as ambitious as before but much quieter about her brains with the discovery of makeup and boys. When she saw him running around with Scott McCall, she made a pact with herself to greet him again, intrigued by the mysterious child who had run away from her. Hips swinging as she walked, she made her way towards the two, tapping his shoulder with a perfectly manicured finger.

"Lydia Martin, you probably don't remember me." She extended her hand again, foot tapping but this time he shook it, cheeks bright red which she'd later learn was because he was embarrassed, not from the running about.

"Class president right?" There was a smirk on his face and sarcastic tone to his voice that she should have despised but she couldn't find it in her heart to hate it. She was about to reply when Catlin came over to her, informing her that this was the wrong crowd before pulling her away.

The next day, she returned to the spot she'd seen him in, but he never showed up.

She was sixteen when they divorced. People at school never saw how upset she was, a perfect mask in place, but when she got home, she locked herself away to cry. The day she chose to live with her mother, daisies appeared on the doorstep, addressed to her from Stiles. When she went to thank him at school, her stride had little confidence, books clutched to her chest as she thanked him. When she asked him how she knew daisies were her favourite, he'd shrugged and walked away.

When she was seventeen, she lost her best friend. A hit and run incident. One she felt the blame for. She was meeting her, and if she hadn't been late, she would have been there to take the bullet. At the burial, she felt a hand on her shoulder, collapsing into the body as tears stained his shirt. When she spoke, she found his eyes in the crowd, voice no longer shaking as he spurred her on.

After graduation, they didn't see each-other. Lydia had a full academic scholarship from Oxford and a chance to start again. Stiles had a job in a coffee shop and a memory of a kiss after prom, a night under the stars that had been the perfect goodbye.

She returned to Beacon Hills five years later. Her studies finally over and job offers coming from all over the globe. She was visiting her mother a week before her job in San Francisco began. She didn't know how she ended up at the sheriffs station, a broken heel and missing handbag, but she knew those caramel eyes when she saw them, memories flooding back. He didn't hesitate before hugging her, catching up on what they'd missed. She told him she was going to San Francisco to be a doctor and he told her he was in line to be the next deputy. Once her report was filed, they made plans to get coffee, but when she got home, she realised she didn't have his number.

The next time she saw him, it was at a wedding. The union of Melissa McCall and John Stilinski. Her mother had told her about the day, and she took Lydia as her plus one. As everyone in the church watched Scott walk his mother down the aisle, her eyes were glued to the best man at the front, beaming with pride as he squeezed his fathers shoulder. She remembered missed opportunities, left wondering of different circumstances and if in another world, they would have been together.

After the ceremony, she caught the bouquet, eyes connecting with his as he winked at her. But the flirtatious gesture fell flat, his arms around another girl, the small diamond sparkling. She left the reception before he could ask her to dance and she was left crying on the cab ride home.

It was a sunny day when his heart was broken. He'd been married a year when he'd caught them together. His deputy and his wife. He did the only thing he could and left. The divorce was finalised a few months later and he found himself dreaming of strawberry blonde curls and emerald green eyes.

Ariel had been a product of a six month relationship, one that ended when she told him about the baby. She was almost a year old when he'd knocked on her door. She'd barely got time to ask him how he found her, when his lips were on hers, a long overdue moment that was interrupted by a scream. He'd looked at her with wide eyes and she'd paled slightly, expecting him to run away, but he didn't and he never did again.

They'd agreed on a big wedding, or rather she'd told him she wanted a big wedding. A ceremony for the ages he'd called it, and a declaration of their love where they recounted the moments that had bought them together. Claudia came along nine months later, the image of her mother but with her fathers eyes.

They were old and grey when they last saw each other, a life lived together after years of being apart. He slipped away peacefully in his sleep and she lay daisies on his grave.

It was three days later when he took her hand and they were reunited again. He took her back to the sandbox where they'd first met, and they danced through the night.


End file.
